


Work Ethics

by allonym



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Hades (Video Game 2018) Spoilers, Hades is a workaholic, Mentioned Fates (Hades Video Game), Mentioned Nyx (Hades Video Game), POV Hades (Hades Video Game), but he has a good reason to be, no beta we die like zagreus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29915439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonym/pseuds/allonym
Summary: Hades spent most of his hours working. He'd done so since the night he bargained for his stillborn son’s life.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 53





	Work Ethics

Hades spent most of his hours working. He had done so since the night - and it was most definitely night - that he demanded Nyx ask her daughters for his stillborn son’s life. Then implored her. And then begged her, offering any price that the Lord of the Underworld could pay. He could not stand to remember the grief on Persephone’s face. He did not blame her for escaping to the surface, but the least he could do was give her the solace of the babe to care for. And he could be content with his duty to the realm, if he knew that his wife and child were happy on the surface.

The Fates had granted his request. And the price they demanded was cruel beyond words.

_ The son of Hades shall live as long as he remains in his Father’s House, and the souls of Asphodel shall pay his blood price. Should he venture to the surface, his life will continue for 10,000 heartbeats, unless all the souls in Asphodel are redeemed. _

And so the River Phlegethon flooded the fair meadows of Asphodel, dragging countless shades to suffer in its fiery depths. And Hades was left with a babe to care for, one that he dare not send to Peresphone, lest it die in her arms again. 

He asked Daedaleus to solve the problem of the flooded meadow, but the mastercraftsman shook his head, for taming a river of lava was beyond even the greatest of mortal artisans. The most he could do was stabilize small sections of the flooded planes, and design a series of rafts to travel among the stable sections. Not nearly enough space to accommodate all the lost souls.

There was nothing left but the grim responsibility of reassigning all the shades of Asphodel as quickly as he could. The Underworld fought him on this task; he had to deal with each soul one by one. A few he could elevate to Elysium, but most descended to Tartarus, which was now a kinder realm than the fiery lake in Asphodel. Very few mortals led a totally blameless life, so it was easier to adjust Tartarus to accept a wider variety of sins than to persuade Elysium to recognize a wider variety of honors.

However, some shades had actually lived blameless lives, with only a small circle of family and friends to honor them after death. Too good for Tartarus, not exalted enough for Elysium. Those shades he invited into his House, to help with the impossible task of reviewing the life of every soul assigned to Asphodel. They winnowed through the records, sending him the most promising candidates for his personal consideration.

He was aware, as he worked, that his son was growing in size and strength. Nyx was a competent mother, and certainly knew more about the raising of children than he did. When she came to him, saying that he needed to learn things only a father could teach him, he requested Achilles tutor him in swordcraft and the other manly arts. His hope was that once Zagreus was of age, he could help shoulder his father’s burden. But the boy was less than useless in reviewing scrolls, so Hades did not even attempt to teach him the deeper purpose of the shades’ work, much less his own.

Then Zagreus declared his intent to escape to the surface, and Hades could hear the Fates laughing. He had barely made a dent in redeeming the souls lost to the Phlegethon; if Zagreus reached the surface now, Hades would lose him as well. So he rallied every resource to stop his stubborn son, but it was no use. Finally the day came that Hades knelt bleeding to death in the snow. The only consolation left was the thought that the boy might reach Peresphone before his 10,000th heartbeat, and let her know that Hades had followed her wishes, and taken care of Cerberus.

When the boy subsequently dragged himself out of the Styx, Hades did not express his relief, even to himself. He still could not support the boy’s disruption of the finely balanced workings of the Underworld, and frankly there was little point to it when there was no escape. But shortly after the boy’s victory over Hades, something strange happened. Socrates was admitted to Elysium. And then Thales of Miletus, and Aspasia, and Zeno, and Arete of Cyrene. A whole section of Elysium expanded, and philosophers of every discipline flooded through the gates.

Then, after the boy’s fifth escape, came the poets and musicians. Homer, and Pericleitus, and Sappho, and then Herodorus of Megara shaking the air with the sound of his trumpet. Again, they poured into Elysium, and that blessed realm once again expanded.

Hades could no longer deceive himself. This was the boy’s doing; his repeated sacrifices were changing the fundament of the Underworld for the better. He could see it in the hall, where the gems the boy gathered for the contractor were just a symbol of the blood he spilled in restoring the honor of Hades’ house. 

And then, the boy’s tenth escape brought the most welcome change of all, and Hades swallowed his fear, knowing he should enjoy his good fortune while he could, before the Fates took it all away. He shared with Peresephone the secret behind the boy’s - Zagreus’s - repeated deaths and rebirths.

“I dare not tell him, lest it taint his sacrifice. Until every soul in Asphodel is redeemed, he will never be able to survive on the surface, but if he knew that he was truly earning his freedom with each death, then the Fates might change the terms.”

“Then you should employ him as a security consultant,” said Peresephone with a smile. “He would be happy to serve the House in a way that plays to his strengths. No need to mention the dual purpose.”

His clever wife was quite correct. Soon the boy - Zagreus - was so strong that escaping the Underworld took little effort, and the flood of shades leaving Asphodel slowed to a trickle. It turned out that it wasn’t enough for the prince to simply die and be reborn; he had to truly fight his way out. Hades devised the Pact of Punishment, and unchained some of his own latent power, not used since the battle with the Titans, to spur the boy on.

The first time Zagreus defeated him using Extreme Measures, Hades returned to his desk to find a pile of scrolls corresponding to the lives of those who died too young. Elysium had opened a garden for the shades of children, based on their unrealized potential cut short. Hades squeezed his eyes shut for a moment; Dusa must’ve been dusting the rafters above his throne again. He then picked up a quill, approving each child’s reassignment as quickly as possible.

“Father, you’re already back at work? I was hoping to share some nectar. Really, there’s more to life than just pushing papers around.” Zagreus looked unbearably smug, and Hades pushed away a twinge of pride in his son’s strength.

“Some of us understand our responsibilities to the House. Now begone, and allow me to work in peace.”

And for the first time, Hades believed that peace might actually one day be achieved.


End file.
